Second Cold War
''See also: Second Cold War The '''Second Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and China, along with their respective allies, from the late 2010s to the early-mid 2020s. Like the original Cold War, there was no large-scale direct conflict between these two nations, but strong tension in areas such as diplomacy, economics and defence. The war's beginning has been attributed to the Chinese Stock Market crashing in 2018. China bans export of rare earth element as a response to the attacks, as well as further tariffs in conjunction of several placed against the U.S. since the start of that year. Though initial evidence included U.S. military drones, these drones had been hacked by member of the anarchist terrorist group Cordis Die. Cordis Die, and their leader Raul Menendez would play an important role in the conflict. China developed the short-lived Strategic Defense Coalition during this conflict, the first such military alliance led by China. Despite building a solid foundation with several nations, it's failure to win the support of several major nations, including India and Russia, saw the alliance fall apart. In 2025, SDC's commander, Tian Zhao, was killed by U.S. special forces as he was planning a rogue invasion of Russia. The Second Cold War came to an abrupt close following the drone attacks on Los Angeles in 2025. Raul Menendez, recently escaping from U.S. custody, executes a cyberattack that compromises the entire U.S. drone fleet, threatening the security of the U.S. and China. With China's assistance, the U.S. managed to stop the attack and subsequently recapture Menendez in a facility in Haiti. The capture of Menendez saw a rapid thawing of relations between the two powers. The thawing saw a new cooperation between the two nations, particularly with the rise of Russia and the Common Defense Pact. Both the U.S. and China would become inaugural co-signers of the Winslow Accords in 2038. Background Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, both the United States and China have enjoyed warm diplomatic and economic relations. This is despite some long running issues, particularely regarding Taiwan and Tibet. In 2012, Xi Jinping assumed the position of President of China. Under his tenure, China has expanded rapidly into the South China Sea, building man-made islands to reinforce China's claim to the region: one that was in violation of both international law and it's south-east asian neighbors. On January 20th 2017, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the United States' 45th president. Trump immediately took a hardline stance against China against not only the South China Sea, but the Belt and Road Initiative (which the South China Sea is a part of); allegations of intellectual and trade secret theft and forced technology transfer from US companies to Chinese entities. In early 2018, Trump imposes tariffs on solar panels, then later steel and aluminium. China retaliates by placing tariffs on American resources and produce, starting a trade war. Whilst both sides began discussions in how to address this war and the countries' relationship as a whole, relations from this point became quite frosty. In what put additional strain on U.S.-China relations, the Chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications company Huawei, Meng Wanzhou, daughter of Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Canada on December 1, 2018 at the behest of U.S. authorities. The U.S. accused China of undermining U.S. national security interests, often "using private sector entities" to by-pass U.S. sanctions against the sale of telecom equipment to Iran. This corresponded with the suspicious death on that same day of a leading Chinese-national quantum physicist and venture capitalist at Stanford University, who was on a H-1B visa, giving rise to conspiracy theories in China. On November 3 2020, Democrat Marion Bosworth was elected the 46th President of the United States in a landslide election. This was largely due to her focus on strengthening U.S. relations with China and end the trade war. Cordis Die Cordis Die were a grassroots anarchist movement which gained international attention in 2014 after it crowdsourced simultaneous protests in Tehran, Iran and Pyongyang, North Korea. Led by former narco-terorrist Raul Menendez (then only known by his alias "Odysseus"), called for the world's populous to rise against developed governments worldwide. Chinese Stock Market Crash On June 12th 2021, the Chinese Stock Market in Shanghai and Shenzhen crash, losing US$1 trillion dollars within half an hour following a major cyber attack. Blame quickly fell to the U.S. following a leaked memo from Cordis Die implied the attack was ordered directly from the White House. The U.S. responded by shutting down all of Cordis Die's social media accounts, but this led to Cordis Die burning FBI Director Christopher Wray to death on July 2nd. The attack prompted China to launch a trade embargo on rare-earth elements, which China had essentially the monopoly on global supply. Strategic Defense Coalition The Strategic Defense Coalition (SDC) was founded in the late-2010s as a Chinese-led military alliance modelled partially on NATO. Despite China already involved in a military alliance by way of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (which was also a political and economic alliance), the SDC was designed to succeed the military aspects of the Organisation by spinning it off into a separate autonomous entity. Russia and India had expressed some concerns over the new entity, so elected not to become a founding member. Over the course of the early 2020s, particularly following the stock market crash, the SDC was known to take an aggressive stance in Asia as it tries to coerce different nations to join the alliance. Pakistan would join during this time. There was also speculation that the Chairman of the SDC, Tian Zhao, was acting independently of Beijing and actively pressuring Russia to join the alliance, maybe for his own political ambitions. After failed attempts to invade India and Iran (and in doing so encouraged both nations to ally with NATO), Zhao began immobilising the SDC forces to invade Russia. For Beijing, this was the last straw. Premier Chen formally requests to U.S. President Bosworth to authorise an assassination of Zhao before he launches his invasion. On June 17th 2025, U.S. JSOC forces wold take out Zhao in Pakistan. Beijing would formally regain control of the SDC and redirect units to aid the U.S. during Cordis Die's attack on the G20 conference in Los Angeles. Battle of Los Angeles On June 18th 2025, Cordis Die's leader Odysseus, now identified as Raul Menendez, is captured by U.S. special forces in Yemen. However, he would subsequently escape captivity and launch a cyberattack against the U.S. military and gaining control of the U.S. drone fleet. Menendez would use this fleet on major cities in both the U.S. and China, not before ordering his Cordis Die supporters to attack the G20 summit in Los Angeles on June 19th. Despite the extensive damage done to Los Angeles' central business district, the U.S. were able to hold off the assault, with less than projected casualties. However, a few G20 leaders perished in the attack including the French President. Menendez's last stand Following on the Los Angeles attack, JSOC with SDC in support, raid Menendez's compound in Haiti. The operation is a success and Menendez is brought into custody. However, the U.S.'s entire drone fleet is destroyed after Cordis Die causes them to self-destruct. Aftermath Following the Cordis Die attacks, the United States and China, along with other nations, began a process of diplomatic cooperation which would see the end of hostilities between the two nations and thus the end of the Second Cold War. The two nations would become founding members of the Winslow Accords to kerb the rise of Russia through the Common Defense Pact. The Battle of Los Angeles would also lead to the invocation of the Allied Drone Defense Act 2026, which laid the groundwork for the rise of Directed Energy Air Defenses, thereby rendering any aerial offensive attack force redundant. These systems would become a major focus during the Third Cold War. Category:Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Category:Call of Duty Category:Conflicts Category:Second Cold War Category:China Category:United States of America Category:Terrorist Attacks